


War and Glory, Reinvention

by Tat_Tat



Series: Steven Universe Fic in 2017 + 2018 [3]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Drabble Collection, Episode Related, Ficlet Collection, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-31
Updated: 2018-05-12
Packaged: 2018-09-21 01:16:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 34
Words: 5,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9525029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tat_Tat/pseuds/Tat_Tat
Summary: A collection of gen Steven Universe drabbles and one-shots. (Written before the episode 'A Single Pale Rose')





	1. Steven's Dream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoilers for tonight's episode!

Garnet followed Steven and Greg, not the whole way, just when she knew she would be needed. She wanted to be there to catch Steven. She hoped she had the restraint until that moment or she would risk being seen.


	2. Adventures in Light Distortion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoilers for tonight's episode!

I

After the Ruby ship took off and the dust settled around Peridot and Lapis’s feet there was a rumbling in the distance. Peridot started to investigate and Lapis helped her into the air. It was the cows: they were running away from a gem monster.

Peridot was excited to show off her metal powers in a combative situation to Lapis but when they arrived to the scene Lapis wrangled the beast with a torrent of water and poofed it right away.

Ii.

Connie always carried the sword with her but was more vigilant after Steven hung up the phone. The sword was heavy in her bag, but no more than the books in her other book bag. The combined weight was comforting against her back. 

She found herself staring high into the sky on the way to school and later on that night, through her bedroom window. She stared hoping to see a glimmer of light; maybe the ship Steven was in, returning from space.

She didn’t see the ship but she got a call several days later and as she ran to meet him the two backpacks felt lighter.

Iii

Greg forgot to be afraid once Blue Diamond’s ship drifted into space. He pressed his face to the glass and took in the stars. There was a beat pounding in his head that was catchy and without thinking began to hum a tune, then he started to sing and Blue Diamond clapped her hands.


	3. Gem Heist

“Pearl.” Rose gently took Pearl’s hand and pulled her forward. “Walk beside me.”

“Oh- I uh. . “ She lost her train of thought, distracted by Rose’s hand lingering. They walked, on and on together side by side until Pearl drifted back, old habits falling effortlessly into place.

“Pearl.” Rose giggled and lassoed her again. She treated it almost like a game and Pearl began to play along, sometimes walking behind Rose on purpose just so she could reel her in again and again.


	4. The Zoo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoilers for tonight's episode!

The humans did not take well to containment, behind bars, behind forcefields they became irrational and despondent.

They were all too aware of their confinement and yelled and barked at the guards.

Pink Diamond demanded someone find a solution for this. The human’s behavior was unpleasant, not what anyone would want to see visiting the zoo.

A lapis lazuli suggested they create a familiar environment for the humans and that same day ships were sent out to harvest flora and fauna native to Earth. Meanwhile, bismuths and olivines expanded the zoo to accommodate the changes.

In under three months it was finished and although the humans kicked and screamed initially they acclimated to their new quarters. Of course there were the few that found problems with their new environment, still labeling it a ‘prison’ but within three generations the humans who originally came from Earth had died out, leaving their children who knew only the zoo and questioned nothing.


	5. Acting Regent

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tunes:  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6KcYN0A5LY&t=873s
> 
> **Regent:**
> 
> _noun_
> 
> 1\. a person appointed to administer a country because the monarch is a minor or is absent or incapacitated.
> 
> _adjective_
> 
> 1\. acting as regent for a monarch.

They no longer had a Sapphire to tell them what would happen after the war but Pink Diamond’s fall was so unexpected that even a Sapphire might not have seen it. Blue Diamond disagreed and tallied it to the list of reasons why her sister was shattered (and how she could have prevented it). pearl kept track of this list out of habit. She did not mean to.

pearl did not mean a lot of things, she wasn’t sure what she wanted. When Blue Diamond began to grieve she thought: ‘I hope she feels better’. And doubted that was her own desire or if she was thinking of her Diamond’s best interests.

She had never seen a Diamond cry until her’s saw the broken pink palanquin among the wreckage of battle. pearl held her hands in her lap and awaited an order but none came.

It was Yellow Diamond that pulled Blue Diamond from the pink palanquin and effectively both of them from the listless purgatory of mourning. pearl imagined that if Yellow Diamond hadn’t come Blue Diamond would have spent several hundred years on her knees crying. And pearl would have waited.

How long would pearl wait, how long until Yellow Diamond’s thin patience wore thinner for Blue Diamond?

Not long, pearl thought, standing idly beside her Diamond as she met with an audience. They were both safely inside of the confines of the blue palanquin. A Carnelian was giving her report and asking: “what should we do, my Diamond?”

Blue Diamond was listless, quiet, there were tears in the corner of her eyes. pearl looked between her Diamond and the soldier waiting for an order. The soldier could not see them behind the panel and the thick blue veils, oblivious to Blue Diamond’s bereavement.

After ten minutes the Carnelian implored again, “my Diamond, forgive my impatience-”

Pearl parted her lips, “move to the eastern front and gather your resources. Send a report within a week.”

The Carnelian perked up a little. Blue Diamond shifted, and Pearl felt all eyes on her. She stiffened on the spot. She hated attention.

“Who told you to speak?” Blue Diamond hissed with company still present.

pearl bowed her head and whispered for her Diamond’s ear’s only, “I acted only as you would have, my Diamond.”

Blue Diamond knit her brows, watching her, eyes dry after hours of crying. Then she looked up at the surrounding court and dismissed them with a clap of her hands.

When they had all left, Blue Diamond’s gaze fell heavy on her again.

“ ‘Acted as I would have’?” Her voice was hard, skeptical. She was herself again.

“My Diamond.” pearl started to explain, fidgeting with the front of her skirt. “Would this not be one of many of my duties to serve you? To answer in your place, knowing how you would answer?”

“How did you know I would tell the Carnelian to regroup and gather resources?”

“Because I know you. You are my Diamond.”

For a moment they were steeped in silence and then, Blue Diamond said, “Well, you were correct.” She arched a brow, leaning for a closer look at her, “You’ve always been so quiet. I never thought you would act on your own.”

“It won’t happen again.”

“No.” Blue Diamond said. “No it won’t. I’ll allow you to act in my stead, in such moments as the one earlier.”

pearl was in disbelief, still flinching under her shadow.

“Have I made myself clear?”

“Yes. Yes, My Diamond.” pearl replied.

X

Pearl had played several roles, entertaining The Diamonds along with other pearls. Some said her stage presence was lacking but Blue Diamond didn’t share the same sentiment. “An invisible pearl is a good pearl.” She would say.

Under the guise of Blue Diamond’s will she remained invisible, behind a screen, her voice just a whisper. Other gems mistook the softness, saying it was hard for Blue Diamond to speak since Pink’s passing.

They were unaware it was pearl. Pearl whose voice they had only heard in song. Pearl who did nothing else but open and close doors. Pearl who did everything no one wanted to do.

Blue Diamond did not want to rule. So Pearl did so in her stead.

Blue Diamond was reluctant to relinquish her power, although she had given Pearl permission to speak for her. She tried listening, making audience but gradually only became a physical presence. The more Pearl helped the more she depended on her until she was nothing more than a figurehead, unbeknownst to her subjects, and also, Yellow Diamond. Pearl feared Yellow would suspect her hand in recent government affairs and avoided Yellow Diamond’s pearl more than she had already.

Yellow Diamond’s pearl however smug was clingy. Whenever they were in the same room they had to do everything together.

And since her descent into power, Pearl found her yellow counterpart frustrating. Always so eager to please.

To act like nothing had changed, that Pearl was still a pearl that knew nothing was just another role she had to subsume.

X

Behind the veils and the ornate prism printed screens, Pearl played the role of Blue Diamond until she got carried away and before she knew it became herself.

It started small. She started to think: ‘if it were me I’d do this’ instead of what her Diamond would do or what she had done in the past. She had succeeded keeping those thoughts tightly under wraps. It had been easier when she didn’t have to think. Now she could and she couldn’t stop thinking.

She said: “do not disappoint me again.”

And she thought: Blue Diamond would have had them shattered for that.

Blue Diamond did not notice, wearing a vacant, grieving stare. She did not stir until long after her subjects had left, blinking like coming out of a dream, like she had forgotten her surroundings.

“Pearl. Open the door.” She said and it was the first order Pearl had followed in days.

She started to forget what she was made for. On the occasion Blue Diamond told her what to do, Pearl’s actions were delayed. And the last time she sang her throat was raspy and she missed a few notes.

“You’re off key! What is wrong with you?” yellow pearl had clucked her tongue.

“Sorry.” Pearl said, looking down.

“Sorry is going to get you shattered.” There was concern laden deep in her voice.

Unlike Blue Diamond, Yellow Diamond noticed Pearl’s mistakes. “I could make another for you.”

Blue Diamond broke out of her trance blinking and softly shook her head. “No.”

“She sings off key, she is slow to follow orders…”

But like Yellow Diamond, like White Diamond, like the remnants of Pink Diamond’s kingdom, she was all Blue Diamond had left.

“She’s been my pearl for many millenia.”

“Has she?” Yellow Diamond raised her eyebrows. “I never noticed. Well that’s why she’s become defective.”

Pearl resumed vocal exercises after hearing the two matriarch’s conversation, though she had difficulty finding the time to do it. Sometimes all she could manage was humming and softly singing under her breath as she walked behind Blue Diamond.

She had always had too little time, now that she was playing several roles there was no room for herself. The sparse, quiet moments were all a pearl had; the quiet moments when a Diamond lay at ease, needing nothing. Blue Diamond scarcely asked for anything since her sister Diamond’s death but those demands were replaced by those of Blue Diamond’s court.

She felt proud of herself for making decisions on her own, for thinking of the gems, how she might be a better ruler than Blue Diamond. She thought they would never know it was her all along and she was content with that.

Later, she was grateful no one but Blue Diamond ever knew it was her. The long term effects of her decisions began to emerge. Her timid strategies had depleted armies and her mercy had softened Blue Diamond’s image; the court was unafraid of consequences, mutiny whispered between corridors.

Pearl tried to push through, hands shaking in her lap as she gave orders in hopes of repairing the damage but it was too late: her confidence in slivers and the voices opposing and loud.

Soon she was just as despondent as Blue Diamond and just like that resumed her role as only a pearl. It was the last decision she made for herself.


	6. That Will Be All

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoilers for tonight's episode!

“Again.” Yellow Diamond said, pinching the bridge of her nose, trying to stall the formation of tears.

“Yes, my Diamond.” Again, Pearl bowed and sang. She sang, she leapt, she pirouetted in the palm of Yellow Diamond’s hand.

“Again.” This time, the tears came free and Pearl was unprepared, gaping.

“Again.” Yellow Diamond raised her voice. Her brows were knit sternly, maintaining her intimidating image even amid the tears.

Pearl sang. Again and again. Her voice grew hoarse, her footwork sloppy and sluggish and she could not mask the strain on her face any longer.

Yellow Diamond must have realized what a mess she was and embarrassed to show this in front of her servant. She turned her back to Pearl, she did not even raise her hand up to dismiss her.

“That will be all.”


	7. Untitled l Jasper, Yellow Diamond

Yellow Diamond smiled warmly and Jasper was sure she’d shatter her.

“Yellow Diamond- I mean- My Diamond.” Jasper stammered, crossing her shaking arms across her chest to form a diamond salute.

Yellow Diamond’s smile loosed into a frown. They were not equals but in one utterance Jasper felt like they could be, that she fully understood the extent of her grief. “It’s okay. I’m not your Diamond.”


	8. The New Crystal Gems

Connie had learned she could not fill Steven’s role, but she could fit in his shirt. She liked that it was loose on her and that it smelled faintly like the laundry detergent Pearl used. It wasn’t a perfect fit but it was comforting. It was a nice shirt to sleep in.


	9. Storm in the Room

Steven knew that the Rose in the room wasn’t his real mom, just a manifestation of what he thought she might be like, if he had known her. He knew but he still stepped inside the room on Mother’s Day and on a day that he pretended was her birthday (ignoring that gems didn’t celebrate birthdays). His mom was always happy to see him. She loved the cards and gifts he made for her.


	10. Rocknaldo

The first person Pee Dee saw when he opened the restaurant was Ronaldo passed out on the boardwalk in front of the counter. 

After finishing his opening duties, Pee Dee walked outside to splash cold water on Ronaldo’s face.

It took awhile for Ronaldo to wake up, longer to register his surroundings. 

“Are you okay?” Pee Dee asked, starting to worry.

“. . .haven’t slept. . . days. . . gems don’t sleep. . “ Ronaldo croaked weakly.

“Where have you been?” Previously, he had assumed his brother had holed up in his room. He did that sometimes, when he was wrong about something, which was a lot.

Ronaldo didn’t answer him, quickly falling asleep. Pee Dee called their dad to help drag his brother back home. Ronaldo slept for two days straight.


	11. Tiger Philanthropist

Security dragged Lars out of the building just as he tried to crawl into the ring after Tiger Philanthropist, kicking and crying but mostly crying. Sadie held the door open for them, sucking her soda dry. Once Lars was outside, the cool air settled him down and she found him morose and on the gravel, sniffling.

“Want to grab a drink?” She asked. Her soda was empty.

Lars collected himself, shoving his hands in his pockets, tears in his eyes, “whatever. Nothing matters anymore now that…” He couldn’t bring himself to finish his sentence, another cry bubbling from his throat. Sadie placed a hand on his arm and he followed her to her car. Not many places were open this late at night in Beach City so they drove out of town to a small diner and ordered separate cokes and shakes. When dawn broke Lars was just tired enough to half believe Sadie’s theory that Steven had been Tiger Philanthropist.


	12. Room For Ruby

i.

Steven had told Peridot that humans wished on stars and after quickly laughing about how primitive the species was, started to wonder if it was true, and if not, wasn't it just for the fun of it? Earth customs were illogical, based on feeling or a motion. Wishing on stars was the same, Peridot considered.

And then Peridot thought of all the shooting stars she had seen in her lifetime, all those wishes, unused, and wondered what it was she really wanted. She wasn't sure, until she saw Lapis again.

X

ii.

Navy didn’t resist the pull of Earth’s gravity, even after she accelerated faster downwards, her skin singing. She braced for impact screaming, plotting revenge.

X

iii.

The first ruby that Navy found was Doc who had drifted back into the moon’s weak gravitational orbit.

“How did YOU get a hold of the ship?” She had asked her incredulously.

Navy just laughed and waved her hand coyly, “they practically GAVE the ship away.”

Doc wasn’t sure what she meant by that and was about to ask until Leggy floated past the ship, waving frantically


	13. making, creating l Bismuth, Peridot

Bismuth had been cordially invited to Lapis and Peridot’s meep morp gala, hosted at the barn, at seven o’ clock sharp. Bismuth wore her best apron because the invitation noted a formal dress for the event.

There was a sprinkling of gems and humans at the barn, more than Pearl thought there would be. Pearl had warned Bismuth not to expect much and while Bismuth was usually not one to question Pearl she disagreed with that.

She didn’t understand most of what Lapis and Peridot had made, but she knew how to craft and knowing that, saw they had put thought into the pieces. She was compelled to touch the art but a red roped barricade thwarted intimacy.

She was the last to leave, lingering so she could talk to the artists.

“I used to make stuff like this.” She said, gesturing to something that looked like a pillar that would have supported a gem temple. Architecture. It was what she was made for and she resented that, instead making weapons. She had called blacksmithing her passion back then, she wondered if only because it had upset the upper crusts.

She felt a little ashamed, admiring the pillar, thinking of towers, already forming a design in mind. As if reading her self doubt, Peridot approached her. “You can make it for yourself. It will be different.”


	14. Lion 4: Alternate Ending

Rose kept her things in many spaces, because it all wasn’t enough to hold in the temple and Pearl loved her, but even she didn’t have enough patience for the clutter.

To Rose, it wasn’t clutter. It was a collection. It was impossible to find anything invaluable on Earth and it disheartened her to see objects, once treasured just thrown away. Katana blades dull and broken in half, vases whose cracks loosed water and the televisions gutted, the glass shattered reverting it to an empty, plastic box… she found value in these things.

Those objects once had a place and now they were memories, the stories the objects could tell tantalized Rose so she kept them, wherever she could.


	15. Doug Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For Doug Out I went with a Hard Boiled Detective feel. I can imagine him playing detective in his head.

It was a tawny, sunny day in Beach City, the sort of day that made you wonder what could happen, or what was gonna happen. I squinted out the window over the edge of my newspaper, the day looked too damn perfect, like it was hiding something. The sun had her shadows. Something was moving in Beach City. Something we wouldn’t see until it was too late.

I took a sip of my coffee and that’s when she came into the kitchen, dark, with long legs and lab coat skirting her heels. She looked like she meant business, car keys in hand and heavy bag hoisted over her shoulder. She looked dangerous, like she wouldn’t take no for an answer.

“Doug, don’t forget to pick Connie up from practice.” She said, and left out the door. I tipped my hat and got out of my chair, picking up my own keys, ready for the next dame to walk in.

“Hi, Dad!” She breezed through the kitchen, bag at her side, just like her mother. She grabbed a granola bar and hugged me tight, then she was out the door too and I forgot what I was doing-

…wait.

Monologuing.

I downed the rest of my coffee, planning to brood over the rest of the morning until I remembered I had to go to the bank, the store, and many else, all before the graveyard shift. Somewhere in there I’d catch some shut eye.

Just another day on the job.


	16. The Good Lars

Lars put in his application for the Big Donut, back when the donuts were made on site. He learned about the accident after he accepted the position, after they explained he wouldn’t be making any donuts at all.

“Just focus on customer service.” His boss advised. Back then Lars grimaced because he sort of cared back then, because it was his first job and he couldn’t count on his mom to buy him anything cool. He only started to slack when Sadie got the keys and the managerial responsibilities (without actually being the manager).

He looked elsewhere for places to work, but Beach City wasn’t Empire City, with fine dining and panache. Beach City was amuck with fast food stands and the only other desserts Lars saw in their little speck of town were funnel cakes at Funland.

He was glad when they finally started making donuts in house again, but quickly became underwhelmed, disappointed after making the first batch. It was as mindless as pulling donuts out of a case and exchanging cash.

When the days were slow at the Big Donut and Sadie wasn’t around he thought about baking cakes- then he’d think about what how everyone would laugh if they knew. The thought alone drove him to pick up a broom and actually clean, scrubbing, muttering, disparaging himself:

“Could I get any lamer?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tfw you're probably the only person who appreciates Lars as a complicated little shit.


	17. Are you my dad?

Steven checked the tracking on his package five more times, growing increasingly worried that it had gone missing in the mail.

He asked Garnet if it was coming soon but she pursed her lips silent. Instead, she helped Pearl build a sandcastle, both were keeping Steven company in their own way. Amethyst in her own way too dragged out of a cooler full of canned beans, tossing the emptied cans aside. Usually she ate the packaging of products but something about the cans the beans came in taste off.

Sulking, muttering, checking his phone again and again, Steven crossed his arms.

The gems used to roll their eyes when Steven grew impatient or upset about trivial things, but after everything that had happened, and the threats to come, they were content to see him be worried about the small things, to see him be a kid, a human.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LET. HIM. BE. DISTINGUISHED!


	18. I am my mom

The next morning, Sadie opened the Big Donut without Lars. That wasn’t new- he liked to sleep in and shuck the opening duties on her, but today she knew he wouldn’t be in late. She wasn’t even sure she’d see him again.

She spent most of the morning in the backroom, unable to find the motivation to work. Steven was always their first customer anyways, but like Lars, she wasn’t sure if she would see him again. If she did, there was a donut ready for him, on the house.


	19. Stuck Together

This wasn’t the first time the Topazes had disobeyed orders or almost defected from Homeworld. That was why Aquamarine was with them. She had joked snidely that Topaz could have gathered the humans on their own and that was true, they could have- if they were to be trusted.

They used to go on missions without Aquamarine.

Homeworld never sent a gem on their own to carry out a task. Leverage, they said it was. Minding each other was the real reason. Aquamarine was there to keep an eye on them, just as Topaz was there to make sure Aquamarine didn’t flit too far off.

Fusions especially they monitored, except for the Rubies, too dumb to be deemed a threat. Topaz hated it, but accepted it, because at least they were together.

They held prisoners between their bodies, crushed gems under their feet, and everything else that made them recoil. They did it all in silence.

At least they weren’t alone, they told themselves as they carried out one order after the other.


	20. The Trial

Zircon mentioned Pink Diamond’s pearl, she wondered where she had been when Rose Quartz had shattered the luminous Pink Diamond.

Yellow Pearl’s shoulders stiffened at that statement, fingers at a standstill over the keyboard. She glanced at Blue Pearl but she would not meet her gaze, pretending to draw.


	21. Off Colours

The bright, busy colours of Homeworld flashed around Steven and Lars as they tumbled out of the palanquin. The palanquin was heavy and fell fast ahead of them. They heard it splinter into pieces below. Steven imagined bones cracking like twigs and quickly bubbled himself and Lars. 

The darkness was the first thing Steven noticed, and then the pain but he soon forgot that, hearing Lars groaning behind him.

Steven checked if he was okay and helped him to his feet. They made jokes about their bones being only a ‘little broken’ but they weren’t really laughing, only grateful.

They had landed so far down that the lights above were just white specks, like stars. Steven frowned slightly, before realizing Lars was looking at him. Lars followed where he had been gazing and made the same, forlorn expression.

They both missed home. They both wondered if they could make it back.

The ground under their feet was hard, unforgiving. Cold. They wandered, passing statutes whose faces were worn away, and arms that used to belong to statues. Swords lay scattered, rusted, useless. These were all forgotten things. Amethyst would like it here, Steven thought and his heart panged for her-and the others.

In that moment of desperation, under Yellow Diamond’s glare, Steven and Lars had hoped they would be forgotten but as they walked, and saw several more swords, statues, and shields, and pillars they worried not even Yellow Diamond would set out to find them.


	22. Lars's Head

There was so much he had taken for granted already, that he hadn’t fully appreciated until now, when it was too late. 

Steven said it wasn’t too late- Lars wasn’t too sure, but he said he would try.

Before leaving, Steven pressed the palm of his hand to Lars’s shirt to say goodbye. Lars almost mirrored the expression, but for once it didn’t feel like enough. There was no need to keep up a false bravado, no need to pretend he was above sentiment. He found that he didn’t care about impressing anyone anymore- not even the Cool Kids. 

He didn’t care about how lame he might look for hugging Steven. He didn’t feel like a nerd when he did it. He felt better. Happy. He wished he had done it sooner, not just to Steven but his mom and Sadie too. He held onto Steven tight, thinking about them. He didn’t realize how long he had lingered until Steven said something. 

Steven left, too soon but he was not alone. He had new friends now.

He would not make the same mistakes.


	23. Dewey Wins

Connie got Steven’s text later the next morning. She hesitated to read it and Lion eyed her as she reached for her phone.


	24. Gemcation

Pearl had hoped that Steven would talk to Garnet and Amethyst and kept herself busy, inconspicuously brewing tea or washing dishes. She avoided Greg more than usual and held her hands in her lap, aware they could spring up and cover her mouth.

Steven didn’t know, and she didn’t want him to worry about Homeworld, about herself, more than he was already.

When she was finally pushed to talk she chose her words carefully -but not carefully enough- and was swiftly silenced.

But Steven didn’t notice, and Steven wasn’t worried about Homeworld.

And Pearl felt relieved.


	25. Raising the Barn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 6 times Peridot didn’t tell Lapis how she felt and the one time she did

1\. The first time Peridot mentioned Jasper was the last time, the bow-tie to the alien toy she’d won at Funland all the remained in her hands.

2\. When Lapis said she didn’t like Pierre and that he and Percy were the worst together, Peridot agreed and deleted the 8,000 word fic she had saved on her tablet.

3\. Peridot wanted to brag about defeating Jasper, she already had to Steven and Amethyst but Lapis hadn’t been there. Wouldn’t she be impressed? Peridot thought, then remembered the last time she had mentioned the ‘J’ word.

4\. Lapis never liked to hear about Amethyst or the other Crystal Gems, but she did like to hear how Steven was doing. Peridot thought she was good at redacting out details, unaware that Lapis was flinching or had looked away, not listening anymore.

5\. Peridot was always careful with her tablet, to keep it out of Lapis’s vicinity. She didn’t say it was because she was afraid it would join the alien toy floating in the aquarium. She didn’t tell anyone that she had discovered the voice record function or that when Lapis was dozing in the hammock she walked into the fields alone and disclosed how she really felt and what she wanted to say.

6\. Lapis said they had to leave and Peridot fumbled for reasons not to. As she and Steven searched the forest for Pumpkin, she thought that she would warm up to the idea or begin to see Lapis’s logic, but the longer she and Steven talked about it, the more she did not want to leave, and did not know what to do.

+1 . The Barn was ripped from the ground, cradled in water and Pumpkin was whining in her arms. Peridot thought there was nothing else to break so she took a chance and told Lapis she didn’t want to go.


	26. Back to the Kindergarten

They started filling landfills with flowers. Amethyst reaped the old mattresses and baskets and plastic bags to take back to her room and Peridot used the food waste as compost and tilled the fields.

Morning glories creeped up fences and sunflowers stood proud, beaming over passerby.

Eventually someone noticed Peridot and asked her if she would be interested in volunteering for Beach City’s community garden.

Amethyst still tagged along, and Steven too but Peridot often found herself working alone, after the initial enthusiasm wore and the day grew long. The quiet moments were ones she used to dread, watering the plants by herself, thinking of how effortlessly Lapis used to do it.

But the plants grew, with or without Lapis and Peridot found she didn’t need her anymore.


	27. Sadie Killer

She used to think about how Lars was missing, when she opened the Big Donut first thing in the morning, all by herself.

She didn’t think about him as much anymore. The band kept her busy. They had become instantly popular overnight, so much so that they had to find a new guitar player for when Steven went on Gem Missions. She didn’t wake up bright and early anymore, she relished sleeping in after staying up late at an afterparty or writing lyrics in her pajamas. Buck said a record executive might be at their next gig and she was excited about that.

Riding along in the Pizza delivery car with Jenny at the wheel, Sadie was trying to write new lyrics by flashlight, but was stuck. Nothing came out, or if it did, it was dumb.

“Poo poo.” She muttered, gnawing on her pen. She sighed and raised her head upwards to the stars. Her eyes widened, suddenly thinking about Lars, somewhere in space. She sighed again, holding her head, feeling guilty for going on tours and singing for crowds while Lars was up there without her to help.

She dropped the pen and paper, the flashlight tumbled to her feet, blinking out. She sang in a rough whisper, her writer’s block gone.


	28. Kevin Party

“He’s coming towards us.” Connie whispered.

“Do you think he’s having another party?”

“Probably wants us to form Stevonnie- don’t stare right at him, Steven! He’ll-”

But Kevin was already there, arms crossed, eyeing them shrewdly.

“What do you want?” Steven finally asked.

Kevin rested his eyes on Lion, who was sunbathing next to them on the sand, his pink tail flicking back and forth restlessly. “What breed of dog is that?”

“He’s not a-” Connie started to answer.

“I’m normally allergic to dogs. Is he a hypoallergenic breed?”

“He’s a lion.” Connie flatly replied.

“And magical.” Steven sagely added.


	29. Lars of the Stars

Steven always held Connie’s hand when they walked through the portal in Lion’s mane. As children, the grass tickled their shoulders; as adults it waved against their knees.

There used to be only one tree there, and then there were two. Over the years, more trees took root.


	30. Jungle Moon

After they unfused, Connie ran a hand up her cheek and found a stray hair there.


	31. Your Mother and Mine

He had heard as many stories about Pink Diamond as he had about his mom. As he rested his head in Garnet’s lap he wondered if any of them were true.


	32. The Big Show

When Sadie first overheard her mom humming one of the band’s songs she was sorting the mail, wondering why the tune sounded familiar. Later, she started singing along, unbidden. Eventually, she stopped overthinking it, but she always laughed, hearing her mom sing ‘Sadie Killer and the Suspects’ in the shower, her brassy voice echoing off the walls.


	33. Pool Hopping

Pearl had trouble deciding the perfect spot for the portrait of Steven and Garnet that Vidalia had made, she mulled over it for hours until Garnet picked the painting up and hovered it above the window, next to Rose’s portrait.


	34. Letters to Lars

Even though Steven could visit and check on them anytime, Lars wrote him letters. The other off colours wrote to him too ; he couldn’t read their letters but Pearl helped and taught him how to read Gem Script.


End file.
